I think it's fair to say we all want a happy life, some want success, some want lots of money, others just want to get through the day to day, whatever you want your life to be like; I'm sure you want to be happy.

So if you want it so much then why aren't you? I'm not trying to patronise you, believe me I've been there; I've had my dark days, hasn't everyone? It's easy to get swept up into the everyday stuff and before you know it life's flying past you and you're letting negative emotions rule you. Maybe not all the time, but you might have one of the days where you find things difficult, upsetting, frustrating etc.

Now a little while ago I stumble across some information about how you shouldn't let a compliment go to your head and how if you let a good comment effect you emotionally i.e. Make you feel happy, then you would be susceptible to negative feedback, or worst no feedback. In that you expected certain feedback and you didn't get it. I remember thinking "well I guess, I mean everyone does like praise for doing something good", but I had never thought about the opposite.

I hadn't really thought about how the outside world had such an impact internally, or that I could choose not to let it effect me. It got me thinking about my reaction to situations and how just maybe it would be possible to choose how I reacted.

I had a long time off exercise, especially during my twentys; I had better things to do (or so I thought). So after very little exercise and two children later, you can imagine I had put on a few inches, which made me feel terrible about myself. Rather than doing anything about it I found myself complaining about how I looked instead and my general mood during this time was also quite low.

But good things can come out of bad as they say and for me this is very true when in comes to exercise, as now I have the heinsight into knowing how beneficial exercise can be; for my physical health and general mood. It can seem very difficult to change to have a healthy lifestyle, but I know it's achievable, I'm most certainly proof of this.

My Fitness Journey
I started running in January 2015, only running a short distance and walking for a bit. Eventually I was able to run around 3k, after that I entered into a 5k run and have done that run for 2 years in a row. Toward the end of 2016 I did a 90 day challenge where I tried a few workout videos from YouTube (using: H&S FITNESS). I found a 15 minute insanity cardio workout and did that most days as well as running, I mean what excuse could I find not to do 15 minutes right? Believe me I'm sure I could have found loads, after all I had done for a number of years previous. But it was time for a change! I'm now in the middle of doing the Insanity Workout Challenge, which is so difficult and my biggest fitness challenge to date, but it's where I have found the most benefit; not just physically but also in my general mood.

Feeling low or finding things difficult to deal with?
I hadn't noticed I'd been finding things that hard to deal with, but after a few weeks of exercise I have noticed a huge improvement in my mood, being focused, being able to deal with situations and how much more energy I seem to have.

Most of these improvements have happened through exercise, I was so astounded by how much better I felt (I say mostly, as my diet has also improved so this probably has had some effect).

I want to be very clear here, I hadn't been low or feeling anything other than normal, it wasn't until I had been doing the insanity programme that I noticed these how can I say, positive side effects.

Having researched why I felt so good, I found some scientific facts, they stated the reason for feeling so good was because exercising realises endorphins in the brain which makes us happy. I also feel that distracting ones self from the everyday stresses and letting off some steam also has its benefits.

Whatever the reson, if you are feeling low or need an energy boost get active, exercise really works,

Peace and love to you and yours.

Most people believe they are fully responsible for the thoughts they create, that every thought they have is something they should believe or even more scary; that every thought is totally true, obviously to some extent this can be correct, but the key to success and a happy life, is to understand what thoughts are and how they can help or hinder you.

Everyday our thoughts guide our life (if you let them that is) you wake up and the thinking starts, it can be so powerful that this then runs your day, no matter what the script is; be it negative or positive. It can be hard to believe there is any other way, other than what our thoughts allow us to believe.

How do you really want your life to be? Does anything get to you on a daily basis? Your Health, fitness, body, work, career, lifestyle, family, friends, how you live?

Everything you're doing right now is a choice, the way you live and how you look at life is a choice, it's a hard lesson to learn; I know that! But the one thing you can do today is wake up and realise you are in control of your life, YOU!

If you're not happy with it you are the only one who can change that. I have personally been on the wrong path in life doing things I didn't enjoy or want to do, my health and fitness went out the window and I was sinking into a bad place.

I'm so grateful I changed my ways, but I did that MYSELF, inside somewhere I found the will to change, I made the CHOICE to change, I stopped making EXCUSES and have done everything possible to make myself HAPPY and I continue I work towards that happy place everyday.

​Peace and and love to you and yours.

As a screen acting teacher I love exploring new techniques to aid my class members into becoming better Actors and it was through this passion to help actors; that I stumbled across one of the most beneficial life tools yet!

After presenting my 'breathing technique' class to several classes including children from 7 years to adults, I received significant feedback about how the exercises had such a positive effect on people's lives.

"I knew I needed to start consciously making an effort to use the techniques myself".

I was already blown away by the breathing techniques when I first discovered and developed my "breathing techniques class session", so I decided to start trying the techniques myself during situations were I felt particularly emotional. I wondered if I could use the techniques to change my emotion using the methods I taught in class, in the heat of the moment. Not just to create an emotion, I also wanted to know how quick and effective they were in everyday life.

Being a very busy mummy of two toddlers (aged 2 and 3 years) and running 3 companies, as you can imagine life can be a rollercoaster of emotion and I'm often looking for ways to help me deal with life more effectively. Like most people sometimes my emotions get the better of me and I've found that these exercises and 'understanding my breathing' has really helped me take back control of my emotions.

I recently heard on the radio a report about how women are more likely to suffer from anxiety than men, to be honest I think that's absolute rubbish. I think we all suffer from forms of anxiety and insecurities, perhaps it's most likely that women aren't as afraid to discuss them. Probably due to social pressures and gender conformity, but I firmly believe we are all susceptible.

In the same week I heard that report, I had one of those mornings, everything was normal when I woke up but by the time it came to getting dressed, the negative chatter in my head had started to turn up the volume.

Sometimes in life we find things difficult, whatever the emotional response is, just make sure you take time out to think about it. It's important that you calm yourself, be still, make time to mediate or do some exercise (running, walking is great). You must change your intention to the best, go to a place of love and surrender to the situation. What I mean by that is 'let it be' then think about the why? Why did that experience happen? Why did I respond like that? What did it change in you, did it make you want to change things? If the answer is yes then do it, remember that the world is good and that you should go about doing good until there's too much good in the world. Pick yourself up and fight for what you believe in, life is about being happy and enjoying the experience, it's important that you do that for yourself.

Peace and love to you and yours.

My daily rituals started along side my new 30 day health plan, it all began when I was doing my evening work outs. I had been watching several YouTube videos, some were about fitness, others about personal growth & development. This is where I stumbled across a few videos discussing 'daily rituals', according to these videos a number of people (especially successful people) tend to indulge in personal daily rituals (normally performed in the morning) - Saying this set them up accordingly for the day. So what exactly are daily rituals? In reality they can be whatever you want them to be! In one way you could consider its a bit of 'me' time with a difference.

It all started 90 days ago when I had finally decided to do something about my physical shape, health and fitness, instead of complaining about it which was easy to do. I had started running around a year before and my level of fitness and health was improving, however my weight had remained pretty much the same. I didn't like how I looked and had grown to the biggest dress size I'd been in my life, so I decided it was time to do something about it, as I said it had been easy to complain about it but 'what was I doing about it'? My 'going out for a run days' had started decreasing and I was consuming lots of sugar full and fatty foods.

My husband Stewart had said he was going to attempt a 90 day regime, of healthy food and lots of exercise. He had found some pictures online showing how people had transformed their body shape in 90 days and he wanted to try doing the same.
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The bank holiday weekend is officially over and I have to admit I well and truly over indulged, but don't we all during the holidays?

What I always find important in life is learning from every event and situation, so here's a few things I've learned about my unhealthy living.

Firstly what do I mean by 'over indulged' well I over ate 'unhealthy' foods mainly (sugar full and fatty foods), consumed much more alcohol than normal and did not exercise. Having started quite a strict regime almost 90 days ago of healthy eating and exercise, at first I found it a welcome break and in parts enjoyed my new found self indulgent way (ok it was only 4 days but it definitely had an impact).
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Something happens, it could be personal it could be work related, but it happens, it's bad (or immediately that's what it appears to be). Life's ups and downs WILL happen regardless of what we do to prevent them, the most important thing to do is learn how to deal with life so you can get the most out of it.

My old self didn't have the best coping strategies, to tell you the truth they were none existent. I'd picked up many negative habits as most people do and I'm so grateful they are behind me now, and I'm hopeful my learning can now help others.

Good always comes out of bad, just ride the storm and I have no doubt that you will grow from your struggles.
Peace and love to you and yours.

Having my two children totally changed my perspective on food and drinks, listen close, I'm going to tell you some information I wish I had known or at least considered.

When it was all about me (pre children I mean) you know just dawdling along eating anything I wanted and drinking anything and everything (I'm not talking about alcohol here, that's something I will discuss later). I'm talking about walking into a supermarket, buying anything from off the shelves and eating/drinking it, not giving a second thought to what could be in it. In fact I knew 'those' types of people, who wouldn't eat certain foods and to be honest I remember thinking it was rather odd to be like that, I also remember thinking that if it was that bad for me it wouldn't be available to buy or everyone would be aware of the dangers.